Pt–Re–Os and Sm–Nd isotope and HSE and REE systematics of the 2.7 Ga Belingwe and Abitibi komatiites

Abstract

High-precision Pt–Re–Os and Sm–Nd isotope and highly siderophile element (HSE) and rare earth element (REE) abundance data are reported for two 2.7 b.y. old komatiite lava flows, Tony's flow (TN) from the Belingwe greenstone belt, Zimbabwe, and the PH-II flow (PH) from Munro Township in the Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada. The emplaced lavas are calculated to have contained ~25% (TN) and ~28% (PH) MgO. These lavas were derived from mantle sources characterized by strong depletions in highly incompatible lithophile trace elements, such as light REE (Ce/SmN = 0.64 ± 0.02 (TN) and 0.52 ± 0.01 (PH), e 143Nd(T) = +2.9 ± 0.2 in both sources). 190Pt–186Os and 187Re–187Os isochrons generated for each flow yield ages consistent with respective emplacement ages obtained using other chronometers. The calculated precise initial 186Os/188Os = 0.1198318 ± 3 (TN) and 0.1198316 ± 5 (PH) and 187Os/188Os = 0.10875 ± 17(TN) and 0.10873 ± 15 (PH) require time-integrated 190Pt/188Os and 187Re/188Os of 0.00178 ± 11 and 0.407 ± 8 (TN) and 0.00174 ± 18 and 0.415 ± 5 (PH). These parameters, which by far represent the most precise and accurate estimates of time-integrated Pt/Os and Re/Os of the Archean mantle, are best matched by those of enstatite chondrites. The data also provide evidence for a remarkable similarity in the composition of the sources of these komatiites with respect to both REE and HSE. The calculated absolute HSE abundances in the TN and PH komatiite sources are within or slightly below the range of estimates for the terrestrial Primitive Upper Mantle (PUM). Assuming a chondritic composition of the bulk silicate Earth, the strong depletions in LREE, yet chondritic Re/Os in the komatiite sources are apparently problematic because early Earth processes capable of fractionating the LREE might also be expected to fractionate Re/Os. This apparent discrepancy could be reconciled via a two-stage model, whereby the moderate LREE depletion in the sources of the komatiites initially occurred within the first 100 Ma of Earth s history as a result of either global magma ocean differentiation or extraction and subsequent long-term isolation of early crust, whereas HSE were largely added subsequently via late accretion. The komatiite formation, preceded by derivation of basaltic magmas, was a result of second-stage, largedegree dynamic melting in mantle plumes.